I wanted to post something a bit different from my normal, really aimed at our High School parents, but probably of interest to many. We’ve now been in “Hyflex” for 2 weeks which means for those of us with kids having chosen this option there have been 4 in-school days. It’s still early, but how’s it going? From what I can tell, logistically things have gone quite well, at least at North. Hopefully South is the same. It’s more subjective, but there’s no question that being back in school, even with all the needed changes, has been a huge plus for my High Schooler. We’re not at “transformational” yet…but I’m getting close to saying that.
What have you seen/observed?
It’s so important that we not ease up on the true need for an all in person schedule for September. We need to continue to push our leaders to address how we’ll close the “learning gap” that’s been created over the past year. We also need to remember as elections approach which of our local leaders have actually led, and which have followed as we’ve traveled through this pandemic. For now I’m relieved and hopeful, but also leery. I worry that the maddening conservatism of approach that we’ve seen over the past year will continue even as the end of the pandemic tunnel we’re still in gets closer.
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Surprisingly I have nothing to report. My HS senior initially signed up to return to South. As the return date approached she changed her mind and opted to stay remote.
Glad to hear all’s well so far.
My daughter has had only one day since hyflex started. She’s on the Mon/Tues schedule. Hy flex started on a Thursday and last Monday was a snow day. I hope this week will mark a more consistent schedule. At least based on the first day, it seemed to go well, it was well organized and the safety protocols were adhered to.
At least anecdotally, it seems a larger than expected number of kids chose to continue all remote. When I asked her why,it didn’t seem as much about safety as it’s easier to be home than make the effort to go to school.
Due to the storm, my daughter has also had only a single day (more like 3/4 of a day, actually — early dismissal meant no D block on Monday). We were pleased that her D-block teacher took it upon himself to shuffle his classes around so that he could share time with both sections of his class in person. Putting aside any issues between union and the administration, I have to say that the teachers really have been heroic throughout this whole year.
I was also surprised to learn about the very low in-person attendance. My daughter reports only few other kids in each of her classes.
My daughter is a Junior at NSHS. She has been in the school for four full days now (two weeks) and has indicated that everything has been going well and she is finding it of great benefit to physically be back in the school for class. Instruction is more engaging and logistics appear to be well established. The only challenge she has is that the lunch time has been moved around and she has lunch at 10:45AM which would probably be OK except there is no chance to eat during the remainder of the day unless you go outside which has been hard the past week.
My congratulations to the team at NSHS. I hope they monitor how things are going and look to continue to expand in-school experiences.
I am not clear why, but the Middle School is only doing two mornings a week and it is not “Hyflex”. The students are required to do “asynchronous study” on off-days which is fancy way of saying “self directed study with no teacher”. While that is also going well, it’s unclear how great the benefits are of this model.
Both kids are group B so in person Thursday/Friday at NSHS. They are enjoying being back in-person, Each has one remote teacher but both seem to indicate that is fine. Biggest complaint is 10:45 lunch. When you arrive at 9:15 you just aren’t hunger at 10:45 and then they end up starving later in the day since they can’t snack at all during the day. I know many kids opted out because they did not think it was worth going in especially before when it was thought that it might only be 2 days a month. My kids were skeptical but both are now already very happy to be back and enjoy their in-person days much more than the remote ones. As a parent I feel it is really good for them to be back in person because it requires them to have a routine, No more hanging in pajamas etc, I was really worried that they were developing some bad habits learning remotely. Both kids have been good about keeping their cameras on when remote per their teachers but since many teachers remarked on that, it makes me think that is not the norm. My oldest mentioned being in person you have to be more prepared. You are more likely to be asked a question randomly and can’t feign WiFi issues when in the classroom and the teacher is in front of you. My youngest said she had some WiFi issues on Thursday when she was in-person. She is using an older laptop that we had because the chromebooks ordered for freshman have yet to come in, Overall I think it is going relatively smoothly and things will get even better as everyone adjust to hyflex. I think the students will become more used to how to get everywhere with the one way hallways and the teachers will adjust as they see what works best for their teaching in this new delivery method.
In Charlotte for work and no fam with me…wish I was back in Newton.
My three kids are remote. Two at NS and one at NN for career tech. Here is a snapshot on each.
Sr son has been working for Amazon and doing zoom classes on his phone while delivering. He leaves house at 6am and goes to Dedham to pickup his packages. Usually home by 1-2pm. Since NPS doesn’t require cameras on his teachers are unaware what he is doing during class. He had straight As last term. Is everyone getting As with this new 87%+ grade schedule? Son was just accepted to SEC school where he will be able to watch sports in person. Super excited.
Jr daughter does most of her classes with friends at our house or theirs. These kids have figured out the system. It’s truly social for them and school is secondary. She also received straight As. I asked her the other day if teachers realize they are in the same house. She said teachers don’t ever bring it up. I just hope she is learning something. She has decided against SAT bc colleges not requiring them. Her transcript is filled with As. Should get her top school come the fall.
Fr son has not figured out the game yet. Poor boy is a soldier. He follows every rule. My wife and I just snicker. He gets on his zoom five mins before each class to make sure he isn’t late, goes to afternoon flex blocks, and is excited to play football in a couple of weeks. Has a chance to a major contributor to the football team. Fast as lightning.
My son is Cohort B, so he’s only had one day at school so far- and even so, his first class of the day got canceled, and it was a short day anyway, so he ended up having only 2 in person classes on Monday. All of this notwithstanding, his happiness and excitement about coming to school could not be understated. Even though he’s been doing fine all this time, it was the happiest I’ve seen him all year. He was equally excited about seeing his teachers and his friends for the first time. The thought that he could have been deprived of even these meager two days a week and kept at home all year makes me want to scream. The mental benefits of a normal school day for a teen are enormous and it’s time that the decision makers finally put kids first and realized how much damage they’re doing by depriving them of this.
My freshman at south is happy. She has one teacher remote each day. She dresses in four layers and is fine. Big gripe is the 10:45 am lunch since it is too early. But she says it is worth it!
As an extrovert she has really struggled alone at home.
Is it true over 40 teachers at North called out sick last week on the same day?
My two daughters at South, 10th and 12th are in cohort B, so they have now had 4 days back at South. They love it. Thank you to all the teachers, administration and the high school working group for making this happen!
After the first day, the 10th grader came home and said it didn’t feel any different (in a good way) from school previously – no issues with the masks, only complaint was it was hard to take a drink of water as no one is allowed to take off masks to take a sip. They were excited to see friends that they haven’t in the past year. They were both impressed with the technology usage and how teachers adapted in different and equally effective ways. Both are thrilled that their electives which are really social-emotional stress release classes – woodworking and ceramics – are in-person at least one day a week.
As for classes with remote teachers, one has one teacher remote and the other has two remote, so they do those classes from the field house. The only issue with that is they say it is harder to participate in those remote classes now versus when they are at home for those classes as it is a bit louder etc. The only other complaint is that it is not so easy to go outside at lunch as doors exits are restricted, I spoke to the vice principal and he said they are working on that but understandably they were really managing the coming/going for contact tracing purposes etc.
I was really pleased to read the ventilation reports for Newton South and see that the air exchange rates are well above even the covid-prevention levels suggested by the Harvard Chan Healthy buildings. That gave me a lot of assurance. As a result the temperature in the classrooms is fine according to my kids, no issues there.
I really hope that the vaccines come to the teachers soon and that weekly surveillance testing for both teachers and students is made available and more convenient so that more students and teachers will return soon. The district should really reassess at the end of this term to see if more students would like to return. Especially if the science could justify moving to 3 feet distance especially if vaccines are in place for many. Be creative with some outdoor classrooms and outdoor activities for spring. Don’t wait until the fall to bring back more kids.
My son is at North and the return has been fantastic. The big plusses have been: (1) meeting his teachers in person; (2) socializing with classmates he has not seen in person in 10+ months; (3) small in-person classes due to the hyflex schedule; and (4) a general return to normalcy, notwithstanding the early lunch schedule, even if it is only two days per week. All of my son’s teachers are teaching in the school, which I understand is somewhat unusual (and that my son lucked out, so to speak). I asked him if he felt “safe” in the school and he unhesitatingly said yes. Teachers, students and administrators all seem to be following the masking and distancing rules. He is entirely comfortable sitting in class.
There are little benefits too. For example, my son joined a club in September. The club has been meeting over Zoom. On Friday, for the first time, he met the president of the club in person and, for some reason, that was a thrilling experience for him.
I know I sound like an apologist for the school but, in all honesty, the return has been a welcome relief. Kudos to Amy Winston and the other NNHS administrators who have done yeoman’s work in keeping the students on schedule and the parents informed of goings on.
Hyflex so far has been AMAZING. Seeing peers has made me overall so much happier. I have been so impressed at how good of a job the teachers have been doing at teaching on zoom and in person at once. The WiFi has been surprisingly running smoothly and most importantly I have felt safe the entire time.
People have been doing an incredible job at keeping masks on and distancing. The safety protocols have been followed at all times from my perspective.
I have also learned so much more during my classes as I find it much easier to learn in person.
The remote part hasn’t changed much. I personally like the zoom a little bit more now as the energy and dynamic in which an in-person class is taught is unmatchable on zoom. It’s not much different and is definitely worth giving those who wanna be in-person tho option to do so.
Most of the kids I’ve spoken to(obviously not all but a lot) who chose remote did it because they thought it would be easier and a better senior slump. Not because of safety. It ended up working out good because we got to have 2 cohorts.
Kids need the social interaction for their mental health. The teachers have rocked and been the true MVPs of this. They also for the most part have seemed happy.
I had high expectations for hybrid and it has been even better than expected. I have loved every second of it.
School is safe. Cases are on the way down. The vaccine is on the horizon. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be in a hybrid model. Let’s be honest we should’ve since September
My son is at Newton North and due to the storm has only had one in-school class. All of his teachers were remote. Hopefully, this week will be different. Regardless, I am grateful that he can get out of the house and be with other students.
Ken Laird. Yes, all high school students are now getting straight A’s. Of course, this does not mean that all will be accepted to Caltech. I predict grade inflation will continue next year. It takes pressure off the administration. Parents are less likely to question whether or not their children are learning when they get straight A’s.
I agree with the other comments here that being in school for the hyflex model has been energizing and exciting for my two NNHS students. However, both of my students have had very little actual in-person time (Cohort A), due to a combination of the weather, and what seem like a high number of class cancellations due to teacher absences at North. One of my students has zero classes today. Has anyone else experienced this? The district seems to have become ultra-cautious with the weather and calling snow days or early dismissals. And yes, @Daniel O’Brien, there were ~43 teachers/aides/counselors out last Monday at North. Not sure of the number today.
@dan I had to take my child to NN to pickup a book this AM. As we drove in I noticed teacher parking lot on Walnut St was barren. When my kid went inside I saw staff member outside front entrance and asked if anyone was working today. Lady said, “teachers stay home Wednesday.” Wait a second. I pay 18k in taxes and teachers don’t go into building on Wednesday. Someone please explain this bc I’m very upset.
Same experience Dan, Newton South.
I’m going to add to this. My High Schooler also seems to have many teachers not teaching in person, where the kids are in school but the teacher isn’t. I’d be curious to see statistics about this, what percentage of teachers and staff have actually been in school so far? It may be okay. I respect the right of those with valid health concerns to do this. But if the numbers are really high, it’s not okay. I worry that we’re not being leveled with, that this is something else being held behind the scenes by our School Administration and School Committee. I hope that this isn’t the case! Does anyone actually know?
The HR department keeps track of teachers/staff who are “unable” to teach in-person. In order to be included in this group, employees must provide medical documentation from their doctor.
I’m surprised this cohort of teachers/staff hasn’t been placed higher on the vaccination list, as it would increase the in-person staffing quite quickly.
Correct me if I am wrong, but priority on the vaccination list is the same regardless if you are a private or public school teacher, or primary or secondary.
We moved my daughter to a private school. All the teachers are in the classroom. I am not hearing similar stories of HS teachers not teaching in other districts, or even NPS non-HS teachers. Whatever is going on seems specific to NNHS and NSHS.
To summarize our daughter’s experience so far: Virtual classes are a joke with almost no material covered and teachers canceling classes at the last minute for no reason. Realistically, she is “studying” for 2 hours a day. When she does go to class, if the teacher doesn’t cancel then it is a marginal experience but at least offers some in-person connection with other students.
Lunch time is messy and unnecessarily isolates kids that 5 minutes before that were all huddled together in the hallway.
The education system in Newton is on its way to be one of the worst in the state, lagging behind other town’s and private schools who somehow managed to get their teachers to actually do what they are paid to do. We will feel the impact of this for many years to come.
Some teachers in both private and public schools are exempt from in-person teaching due to being part of one high risk group or another.
No one except custodial staff comes into the buildings on Wednesday…including teachers…so the custodial folks have space and time to deep clean. This is fairly standard across many public school districts in the state. New grading policy isn’t really about grade inflation but more a recognition that measuring learning in this moment is much, much more difficult and schools should really strive to “do no harm”. You could argue that these higher grades might give students and families an inflated sense of achievement, but a. in this moment that seems unlikely and b. grades are a lousy way to really measure learning/achievement anyway.
Do the new CDC guidelines push Newton back into remote learning?